Barclays has drawn up contingency plans for a big cash sweetener to strengthen its all-share offer for Dutch bank ABN AMRO, Reuters reports.
The Financial Times reported today that Barclays recognised that unless legal disputes ran in its favour it needed to improve its EUR 65 billion ($86.74 billion) offer if it was to have a chance of beating a consortium led by the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Barclays is looking at reducing the number of shares it would issue for ABN and replacing them with cash, said the newspaper, quoting people familiar with the situation.
Barclays is not expected to make a decision about restructuring its offer until it becomes clear whether the RBS-led consortium can go ahead with its rival EUR 71.4 billion break-up bid for ABN, the FT said.
A spokesperson for Barclays declined to comment on the newspaper report.